The Windkat provides cosiness in the Mountains for Hotel owner

Hi team Windkat,

I wanted to send you a quick review after these cold winter months in the mountains. The Windkat has provided cosiness for both in the hotel and in our private household for a pleasant good-pulling stove at long last. As seen here at the Alststaufner Einkehr in Oberstaufen.

All the best

K.L

Difficult Stove burns beautifully again thanks to the Windkat Cowl

Hello Windkat Cowls,

I have recently purchased a Windkat Cowl and I have now tried it at long last and I must say I am completely thrilled. There is no more smoke in the living room, no matter what direction the wind is, it makes no difference to the Windkat it works like a dream. The flame burns beautifully and the release of heat with my not so great stove has increased significantly. This investment has paid off.

All the best,

Simon P

Kent

Windkat Cowl works in all weather conditions.

Hello,

I fitted a Windkat cowl to the flue from my woodburning stove a few months ago. The stove has been in regular use since, in all weathers, and the Windkat has transformed its performance. The flue is to the front of the roof face and lower than the ridge, fully exposed to winds from the south or south-west. Originally, it had only a rain cap. Any wind onto the roof made the stove susceptible to downdraft and smoking, or to excessive draw. In strong winds, I had to play with opening and closing doors and windows in the room to balance the pressure and allow the stove to work at all. I was a bit sceptical of anti-downdraught cowls after disappointing results with a cowl of a different make on another flue, but I decided to try the Windkat as it claimed to be properly designed and engineered. I am very glad I did, the stove is now well behaved with even the strongest winds barely affecting the flames. Great product!

Best regards,Barry

Windkat Cowl Van installation cures trouble in severe winds in the French Alps

Hi Windkat,

I've been living in my van in the French alps for a few seasons now and never had trouble with my flue until this year. Where were parked gets some pretty severe winds and I was having loads of trouble with downdraught and my carbon monoxide alarm going off nightly. It was a real pain.

I researched and windkat got good reviews. And here I am adding my great review. I fitted one 2 weeks ago and firstly its totally stopped my downdraught, secondly, my fire is so easy to light now, the flue is always pulling. So cheers Windkat, your customer service is great too.

I'm sitting in, fire on, gale blowing outside and no problems.

Many thanks

Paul.

Windkat Cowl for Twin wall Flues (Northampton)

Hello Windkat,

I would like to thank you very much for your help and assistance with our fire. The Windkat is mounted! And what can I say: It works flawlessly. The time when I had to use and light newspaper in our stove is finally over. Our room doesn't get filled with toxic newspaper smoke anymore. I'm very happy and happy to have made the decision to install the Windkat. Thank you for the good advice and I wish you all a Happy new Year for 2018.

Greetings from N.

Family S.

Windkat Chimney Pot Installation cures Downdraught problems

Hello Windkat Cowls,

The Windkats arrived as promised and have now been installed along side the previous Windkat we installed some years ago after trying numerous unsuccessful cowls. Now all the appliances are working fine with no downdraught problems so far.

Kind regards

John

The "Magical" Windkat Cowl cures Downdraught on a Low Flue Top

Hi,

I just thought I’d share a few photos with you in celebration of finally being able to use our log burner. We now have one very happy cat.

The previous owners had a non HETAS engineer install the fire and I can only guess that they never used it as the down draught was awful due to the flue top being too low.

Step in the magical Windkat and we now have a nice set of flames going.

Thanks

Mark

A Unique Windkat Installation

A unique Windkat Cowl project and installation has been completed. The fire draws beautifully and has created a great cosy place to relax and chill. Even though the flue is only 2.5m in length the Windkat has created an even steady draw, even during these cold winter nights.

Thank you so much for all your help and assistance.

Regards,

Martin Rall

The Windkat Cowl system helps even in the most extreme conditions!

Hello, Surely you can still remember our conversation. We own a house on the Vesteralen (about 300km north of the Arctic Circle). As you can see in the attached pictures, we have a 300m high mountain directly behind the house. As a result, the wind is all over the place and causes havoc on our property. With the original mounted chimney cowl, it happened again and again that the wind was blowing the smoke through the stove on the first floor and into the living room. It became so bad we didn't light the stove and had given up. Since the installation of the Windkat, we have had incredible results starting with an even flame and fire in our stove. Even in high and unpredictable wind directions the fire burns beautifully and the smoke issue has vanished into thin air. Great invention! Many Thanks D.S.

Windkat Cowl cures smoking stove and fireplace

Hello, I installed my new Windkat on my stainless steel chimney flue and immediately tested the effect of it. We had high winds that I can only compare to the likes of autumn and spring storms. We lit our stove for the first time a few weeks ago and have not looked back since. The flames were calm and we had no smoke filling up the stove and trying to escape the seems. Its been a frustrating few years and we now look forward to a stress free winter. Thank you so much for your help and for such an excellent product. Attached are photos with our previous cowl which didn't work at all and the new Windkat Cowl. Greetings L. K.

Spinning Cowl or a Windkat Cowl???

Hi there,

I have just replaced my spinning flue cap with the Windkat Cowl and would like to tell you what a difference it's made!

Due to our installation the flue is towards the minimum length allowable. A spinning cowl was fitted to assist with the draw, however due to the prevailing wind and surrounding structure it would only spin on a rare occasion.

Whilst the stove has remained usable and I absolutely love it, on some gusty days we would have issues with backdraft and on seriously windy days we've even had smoke being forced out of the stove through the air inlet into the room!

It was after the recent high winds that I stumbled upon the Windkat Cowl. As an aircraft engineer I recognised the principle behind the design (aircraft fuel systems use high pressure fuel to induce a motive flow in a jet pump) and knew it would be ideal for my installation.

Whilst it's still early days, I've noticed an immediate improvement in the stove performance and would thoroughly recommend fitting a Windkat Cowl if people are experiencing problems with poor draw/backdraft.

Please feel free to add my comments to your site! Great product and works as advertised!

Many thanks,

Al Black

Auchterarder

Windkat chimney Cowl installation in the heart of Hampshire

Hi Philip,

We have now had the Windkat installed for around a month and have had successful after successful after successful fire without any issues.

We had two installation companies visit our property and both said that they would not install a wood burner as they were 80-90% sure that it wouldn't work in our location. We live very close to trees and have a steep garden so they were assuring me that downdraft was sure to be a major issue. I tried to explain to one fitter about the Windkat cowl and how different they are from others, but he wouldn't listen to me and said that he they are all the same...

Went to the third company and mentioned about the downdraft concern but that I intend to install a Windkat cowl. The site survey was done and they were going to use a premium flue system with the Windkat and were very confident that it will work.

So far so good. We have seen the smoke blowing down so know that it is certainly working well as the fire seems to light and burn well.

After many conversations with you, I am so glad that I took the plunge and had the burner installed with a Windkat on the flue. The company who installed the wood burner are so impressed, they will be giving it a recommendation to other clients that have the same issue. It works well and looks really cool too.

Great product and we are very happy and extremely toasty...

Kind regards

Gary

Windkat 148mm Plug-in (Black) for Twin Wall System

Good afternoon.

I recently purchased and (easily) self installed my Windkat a few weeks ago. For a product to get a review from me it's either truly awful or extremely good! Yours very definitely falls into the second category. We've had a troublesome stove in our kitchen for a number of years. It was so unpredictable we hardly used it and almost regretted fitting it. Today has been my first proper test. I lit the fire in a way (deliberately) that would have been a disaster previously and the stove drew beautifully. I am flabbergasted at the difference. A really windy or cold and still day will be the final test but so far it's looking really great. Photo available as an addition to my words should you like one. Thank you again.

Follow up email:

Lit it in the wind last night, absolutely no problems at all. Wish everything did it's job as well as your product!

Greg.

Terracotta Windkat Cowl 180 Baseplate

Now that the days are getting shorter and the outside temperatures are getting colder, the time has come when using your fireplace or stove will increases the cosiness of your home. To ensure this becomes a reality, the Windkat Cowl is the only solution.

We are delighted that the Windkat has once again solved another customers open fireplace issue, lack of draw and smokey room problems. The Windkat was also colour matched against the customers unique chimney stack which they are extremely proud of. These are just some of the reasons a Windkat Cowl can transform your home for the better.

Windkat Cowl in the Swiss Alps

Your Windkat Cowl has been installed and our stove is finally drawing beautifully again after years of stress. I have attached some photos for you.

Thank you for your excellent service and product.

M Dallenbach

Windkat Cowl for Ventilation purposes

Dear Mr. Goerlach,

As promised, I would like to review one of our results concerning the Windkat Cowl.

I have attached two pictures for you which shows the problems of the flue set up and wall mounting set up. As a restriction on the height was an issue we only needed to use a 90 ° angle flue and then the installation of the Windkat itself. The purpose of the Windkat was to take over manually when our ventilation system is turned off inside the building.

As far as the Windkat is concerned and the operation of the system, we can not yet determine any clear results since we have only been able to test it in a few occasions but so far the results have been outstanding and we are so happy.

With regards to the Windkat working and being successful it was clear after switching off the ventilation fan, because then we were able to establish that a stable air pressure is present. We had tried many other Cowls with no luck and wasting our money but now we can finally relax and get a clean efficient ventilation 24hours a day automatically and now manually.

I would like to thank you very much for having helped us with the ventilation issues we had and helping us choose the right Windkat Cowl. We are also grateful for helping us get a constant even draw and air flow with our ventilation system once its turned off and has to work manually.

Sincerely, / Kind regards

David Delly

Project Engineer Team Process Engineering

Professor Dr. Berg

Custom 300mm Windkat installed in the USA

Dear Windkat Team,

I received the Windkat on Tuesday, arranged for installment on Wednesday, had it installed today (Thursday), and am testing it out as I write the email.

The installers had an easy time of it and we're very impressed with the quality. My father(whose house it is installed on) is happy with how it looks. There was a little initial concern as to how it was going to look but we all think it looks like it belongs.

As the saying goes, "the test of the pudding is in the tasting", and as so, we'll soon see if it solves our downdraft problem.

I'll be sending pictures in the next few days. I should be able to report on how it is working being as how we are in our windiest season.

Thanks for helping me through the delivery process to the USA. You've been helpful to a fault.

Many thanks,

Tom Miller

Indianapolis, Indiana. USA

...The Windkat has 100% cured our Downdraught problems and we are thrilled.

Windkat 200 plug-in 187mm (Terracotta) with 0.5m Extension

Hi Philip

We have had the Windkat for four months now and its working fine, no need to check for down drafts anymore (it looks good to).

The Windkat is working really well. I think we have been through most wind directions, with only a couple of small puffs of smoke in a seriously strong westerly. The last email I sent I had checked the flu when the wind was in the south west and there was a down draft, in the past (with other cowls) this has meant the room filling with smoke on lighting a fire. After using the Windkat I tried lighting the fire and it worked and has been working ever since.

Thank you for all your help,

Kind regards

Barry

Windkat Flue Cowl 148mm (Black) solves Burner issues.

Philip,

Windkat is fitted and it's made a big difference to the control of the burner. It still smokes a little bit when it's cool, but once it gets up to temperature that's when it's noticeable. Before if you closed the primary vent it would die out. Now it's controlled by the secondary vent with good results.

Thank you so much for your help and assistance.

Kind regards

Steve Trotman

Windkat plug-in 220mm for double walled flue (Preston)

Dear Windkat Team,

In March of this year we bought a Windkat Cowl from you. In the last few weeks, we have started lighting our stove and heating our living room and we are thrilled with the results. Our stove burns better than ever before. Our living room is no longer filled with smoke and fumes every time we light the fire, the glass of the stove is always nice and clear and the wood burns perfectly. You are welcome to publish my review on your website. I can highly recommend anyone who has problems with any stove or fireplace to buy a Windkat!

Best regards.

J.E.

Several Windkat Cowl installations (Munich Germany)

A fantastic Windkat Installation for passive ventilation purposes. This is for a Bakery in Munich and has been a huge success. Not only does the Windkat Cowl work for fires and fuels it is also unique in the fact it can be used for passive ventilation.

Windkat Cowl 196mm plug-in with Extension Baseplate. (Sheffield)

Good morning,

As promised, here are two pictures of our Windkat with extension.

We were really desperate to sort out our new fireplace. We had paid a lot of money and it did not work properly. It smelt in our living room of cold smoke and the draw was so bad that we couldn't light a fire anymore.

This is finally now in the past, thanks to your help and your product.

Thank you for your competent advice on the phone and your excellent service. We will be recommending this product to all our friends and family.

Kind regards

M.K.

Windkat 196mm Plug-in Installation (Hungary)

Good day Windkat, After 6 years since the installation, I can happily inform you that we are still very satisfied with the installed WindKat Cowl. The purchase was a very good investment. We finally have a roaring stove again without puffs of smoke entering our living room.

Best greetings from Lake Balaton

Werner Giebenhain

Craig Ryan (Windkat 125mm Black for Chimney Flue System)

Hello Windkat Cowls, I hope your well! Please find attached a couple of pics / small clips of the Windkat in action. Been really impressed with it, working really well. Stove is pulling brilliant with it now. Also Philip have you had any orders from Wigan yet? If not you can be expecting some because I have been in regular contact with the company that fitted my stove - They actually now tell any potential customers with a shorter flue that they would recommend to fit a Windkat cowl, how good is that? Also they text me in the week to ask me where I ordered my Windkat from so I put them onto the website.

Craig Ryan

Troy Archer (Manchester) 196mm Windkat Plug-in for Flues

A big thank you for the Windkat Cowl that we purchased through the company that fitted our log burner. It has resolved our down draft problems entirely after some agonising winters.

Kind regards

Troy Archer

Peter Bennett (Windkat 148mm Plug-in for chimney pots)

Just a couple of photo's showing our Windkat installation.

As can be seen from the 2 original photo's the chimney pot was replaced with a shorter version with the stainless liner tube cemented centrally and the Windkat fitted.

Up to now the Windkat seems to be performing extremely well with a reduced noise level even in the high winds. We are looking forward to the winter storms yet so we will wait and see.

Regards

Peter Bennett

Craig (Devon) Windkat 125mm Plug-in

Hello again I hope you have had a great Christmas and New Year. I just thought I would get back in touch with you whilst the Windkat is on! The product is amazing and my stove is like a new one but with one minor problem, there is still smoke coming back into the room when I open the stove door, but nowhere near as much! It tends to be when there is not much wind outside and it is calm...maybe my flue is too short? On the other hand my stoves glass is no longer black, it is clear! And also my stove is a lot more responsive ( I can actually shut it down now when up to temp) which I could not do before. Also I can easily tell that efficiency has been greatly improved! I am really happy Philip it's just a shame about the little bit of smoke sometimes coming back into the room a bit.

Speak to you soon, regards, Craig (Devon)

Julian - Windkat Baseplate 400mm (Cornwall)

Dear Windkat Cowls Ltd,

Just to let you know that the new cowl is fitted and working extremely well. We haven’t yet had a full Cornish gale but in all other circumstances the chimney has drawn as it should with no sign of any downdraft. Many thanks for all your help.

Kind regards

Julian

26/10/16

"we have been able to have fires which last year would have been out of the question"

Well Philip , having tested your Windkat cowl , I have to report that it has performed exceptionally well in all weather conditions , including some 50/60mph winds.As a result we have been able to have fires which last year would have been out of the question. Once again thanks for the technical advice. I would certainly recommend this product to anyone suffering with backdraught problems. Regards from Barry in windy ,wet , Norfolk.

Adam Elder - whynotnorthberwick

Here’s a bit of feedback about the Windkat…

I fitted a multifuel stove into our cafe in North Berwick, Scotland. We are right by the sea so prone to strong winds. The cafe roof is single story and surrounded by three story buildings so down draughts were making the stove unusable. We tried various cowls with no success. Then we tried the Windkat. Immediately the problem was solved. In the past few weeks we’ve had very strong, swirling winds. You’ll see from the video how much the wind is going downwards, but still the smoke is pulled from the chimney.

So many thanks for solving our troubles. I won’t hesitate to recommend the Windkat whenever I can.

M Northcott (Windkat for chimney pots 196mm)

We ordered this cowl early December, it arrived five days later really well boxed and protected.

We could not access the chimney top till just after Christmas due to the poor weather. We then got to the existing pot and took off the bird guard and checked the pot itself as well as cleaning the inside of the pot. We checked the Windkat fitted the pot snugly which it did. We warmed up the mastic supplied, carefully applied it to the cowl and placed the cowl into the pot. All done in about 15 minutes with no problem.

Since installing, the log burner has lit easily and draught has been more consistent than before. Overnight burning has been easier too. The reason we wanted this Cowl being that we live in the North of Scotland in a valley, close to a wood. When the wind is in a SW direction we were getting serious downdraught and smoke filling the room. Having now used the cowl for several weeks without much wind, we have last evening had high gusting wind from the SW, NO smoke!

We can only say that we are delighted with the product, it is well made, easy to fit and does what it says it will do. Expensive maybe, but the end result is excellent and the cowl will last for years, unlike its cheaper competitors.

Windkat - "it does what it says on the can!"

I fitted my wood burning stove last year. Since the first time that it was lit the room would fill with smoke. It was so bad that all of the windows had to be opened and the room vacated. It was also very difficult to light taking 2 or 3 attempts. In an effort to resolve the problem I added another length of twin wall piping to no avail.

I did a bit of investigation on the internet and came upon your product. It looked to be just the job and with the money back guarantee where could I go wrong.

Well the WindKat arrived and I fitted it straight away which was simplicity itself. I lit the fire (first time) and there was no smoke in the room at all. You could see it in the fire but it wasn't escaping. As well as curing the smoke and lighting problems it also seems to make the fire burn more efficiently. Previously it would blaze away getting through the fuel at a rate of knots.

I am a bit of a sceptic and wanted to be sure that this was not a one off. I am extremely happy to report that it was not - since then I have had several fires and encountered none of the previous problems.

In conclusion, I am extremely happy with the product and would recommend it without hesitation - it does what it says on the can!

Many thanks

Mr Stone

Tony, UK (Windkat for Chimney Pot)

The Windkat you supplied has been fitted for two weeks now, and as I expected the results have been extraordinary! For the first time since the house was built in 1974 there is no longer any sign of downdraughts from the chimney, even in the highest winds. Fires burn much better and much more consistently since the updraught is also consistent.

Given the ovality of the chimney pot, I made up a clamping system from stainless steel, as we discussed, and that made fitting the cowl a five minute job, tightening two screws. It also means that removing it for any reason would also be a five minute job. The clamp deals easily with the ovality of the pot.

Over a number of years I had tries several different sorts of cowls, none of which were cheap, and none of which worked. I could have saved some money by buying one of yours in the beginning!

Thanks for your untiring help with this project. I would happily recommend a Windkat to anyone with a downdraught problem, and I will do so.

Doug. Nova Scotia, CANADA (windkat for chimney without pot)

I wanted to update you on the chimney cowl I purchased from you. In short, it worked. I’ve had an oil stove installed in the house for about 8 years, and this is the first winter it worked correctly. Prior to installing the cowl we could only turn the stove up to about 40 percent of maximum before it would start becoming unstable, we had tried several different cowls. My house is old by North American standards(circa.1884), with little insulation, and large about 3500 square feet. When the furnace is used to heat the house it uses about 300-400 litres of oil a week, thankfully as bad as the weather was this winter we only uses the furnace for about 10 days, typically we use it for two months. The cowl paid for itself in a season.

The quality of workmanship and materials is high. I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

Robin Foster. Exeter (Windkat for Chimney pot with downdraught)

As wood a burner novice I knew little or nothing of the complexities of wood burning stoves and their various accessories, but it was clear from my research the choice of cowl was just as important as the choice of the stove itself. As the research progressed it also became very clear I was spoilt for choice in terms of both design and price when it came to the cowl. Aware southwest England is particularly prone to strong winds and gales in the winter months, I was keen to ensure the chosen cowl should have a proven track record when it came to coping with down-draught problems. It was also important to get it right first time if I were to avoid return visits to the top of our chimney! The Windkat appeared to fit the bill, albeit at a premium price.Our wood burner, a Hwam 3110, was installed just before Christmas together with a Windkat 150 plug-in and the initial results were excellent with plenty of draw in the stove itself. The next test would be how well it coped with down-draughts and the answer was to come sooner than expected on Boxing Day evening, when the west country experienced some very strong winds. Whilst the weather outside remained rough there was absolutely no indication of this within the stove, which continued to draw in exactly the same manner as it had done on calm days. Even when the stove was opened to refuel there was no evidence of any down-draught whatsoever.Thus far the Windkat has performed very well and I would happily recommend this chimney cowl to any potential customers. No, it wasn’t the cheapest cowl on the market, but it’s well made from quality materials and 'Does exactly what is says on the tin’. Hopefully the Windkat will also prove to be a wise longterm investment.

Thank you & kind regards,

B Reed, Newton Abbot. Devon (Windkat for twin wall flue pipe)

It is some time since I installed your wonderful Windkat Chimney Cowl (April this year) but we have only recently had to start heating the home (the log burner is our only source of heating). Please find attached two pictures, one showing the fire burning with flue temperature gauge and heat powered fans and the second one taken within a minute showing how clean the burn is!We used to have trouble with slow burning and large amounts of smoke along with our downdraft. We now have very clean burning with no problems getting things started or keeping them going. As you can see (or not) there is almost no smoke visible demonstrating how efficient how log burner has become. We are using between 2/3 and 1/2 the amount of wood we were using before your cowl was fitted and only need to empty the ash pan every four or five days instead of daily (another demonstration of how the efficiency has been improved!).I have to say I was nervous spending the amount I did on a cowl but have absolutely NO regrets whatsoever.Bloody brilliant!

Thanks again,

Windkat cowl for chimney pot with downdraught

Being one of life's skeptics, I was dubious about this product to say the least (especially at the price), but having researched and read lots of reviews, it seemed the best option for our downdraft issue (smoke filled room almost every time we lit the stove - my wife banned me from using it!).Yes, there are much cheaper options on the market (which I must confess I have never tried) but none of them offered the full package of low maintenance (no moving parts), easy to install (although managed to get our builder to do it for free!), works in all conditions (windy and still), etc. I'm delighted to say I have tested the cowl in various weather conditions, and have yet to find any that cause the downdraft and resulting smoking. This appears to be science at it's best, so in my opinion merits the steep price tag - I would recommend this product to anyone having downdraft/draw issues with their wood burning stove. Now I'm allowed to light the stove whenever I want!

RCM. Skipton

Having suffered from smoked filled rooms in many houses in spite of receiving entirely useless "expert advice" along the way, at our present house (where we suffered the same problem) we decided to fit a Windkat and it has transformed our lives and probably extended them too! I would recommend the Windkat to anyone with fire smoke problems.

W Huber. Wellingborough, Northamptonshire

"the plug in windkat that I ordered earlier on this year [2013] to use on my chimney flue, is working well and has stopped all the downdraught, also it has improved the performance of our stove by increasing the heat output with a consistent regular burn, allowing the fuel on the fire to burn slower, but yet generates a high heat output, and no smoke enters the room when opening the stove doors."

K Hill. Todmorden (Windkat for Aga)

It is now 3 months since installation and it has been in constant use during that time. It has been subjected to a variety of weather conditions, some quite servere with gale force winds and heavy rain from all sectors. It has performed well during all of these conditions without any trace of fumes from downdrafts. Other forms of cowls which I have previously had installed have failed to cope with all of these types of conditions as effectively as the Windkat has done. There has only been one occasion when there was a small trace of a smell of oil fumes but only for a very short time. The weather conditions on this occasion were very still with a mist. These are quite unusual in this location. The smell cleared very quickly and wasn't a problem. Atmospheric pressure was the likely cause, I think. I am very satisfied with the performance of the cowl which since its installation has made our lives a lot more tolerable than they have been in this regard for some time. May I take this opportunity of thanking you for your help and wish you a very happy Christmas. Kind regards,

Peter and Judith, Lincoln

Dear Windkat, I am writing following the purchase of a Windkat Chimney Cowl in October 2012. I have delayed contacting you until the Windkat had been in place for a while and we had experienced high wind conditions. All I can say is this is probably one of the best products we have ever bought, we are 100% satisfied - the Windkat has made a huge difference to our quality of life ! We have an open coal fire in our lounge and have suffered terribly from down draught resulting in a smoke filled house. Last year we had to give up lighting the fire when it was windy as it was such a liability - constantly having to endure very unpleasant plumes of acrid smoke filling our living room. We turned to the Windkat in desperation. It is an expensive product and a big initial outlay but we we felt reassured by the 60 day guarantee and having read the positive feedback from previous customers we went ahead and bought one. From the first day we installed it we have been totally smoke free, it is just fantastic, I can honestly say it's the only product that has fully lived up to what it promises. We are 100% delighted with it, thank you Windkat for a wonderful product. Regards,

Allan (Cruising Narrowbaot “Pengalanty” on the English Canals)

Hello! It's a long time since I last contacted you, when you supplied a "Windkat Cowl" to fit a specific flue diameter for my boat I have used this ever since with different lengths of chimney above the roof level. It is very successful A attach a statement to this e-mail (Click here to open statement PDF) I am delighted with the product and over a 12-month period I believe that this has reduced my Red Diesel fuel consumption in my Diesel fire with back boiler One of the Best Products I have even come across! Many thanks,

Simon

Hello, I recently spoke to you regarding the 60 day money back offer when purchasing a windkat and explained my situation. You were very helpful and believed this should help my situation. I just wanted to write to you with some feedback on it. I installed it 2 weeks ago and have been waiting for some wind, fearing it may be a calm spring and I may have to wait until autumn! However one day last week and again today it's pretty windy here and I have to say I'm seriously impressed with the Windkat. My situation is that we have a house with a rear extension added and the twinwall flue runs up the back wall of the main house (so out the top of the extension) and sits up about 1m above the guttering and well below the ridge line of the house. Since installing we have had some serious downdraft issues. The first time we became aware of the issue was on a very windy day and it caused the (charnwood country 6) fire which has closed doors on to pop slightly open and smoke into the room, the fire was on relatively low (no big flames) and the downdraft was so strong it did blow the doors ajar and allow the stove to smoke into the room. I tried heating the fire up to counteract the effects (get some flames going) and the result of a strong gust was that flames shot out of the air vents at the bottom of the fire about 5 inches long, which was incredibly alarming! Since this we have had to be careful when we use it but sometimes the wind picks up quickly once a fire is already on and we have had problems with smoking even in relatively modest winds. I believe the issue is caused by unstable air because the flue ends below the ridge line. The smoke can be seen to blow one way and then another, to rise and then suddenly fall and I could see it eddy around on the main roof when viewed from the garden, so we are pretty sure it's caused by turbulence from the main roof. We had the fire in a main chimney previously and had no issues as it exists above the ridge line. Our options were to try and anti-downdraft cowl, extend it higher requiring guy ropes into the main roof for stability and a long flue or to route it in through the main house, into the loft space and out of the roof on the ridge, most of which would be cheap or desirable. We tried a Euro cowl anti-downdraft and this did help in more modest winds but on windier days, it didn't make any difference. With trepidation we tried the expensive looking Windkat because it got excellent reviews and money-back offer if it didn't work, something which no other cowl offered. I fitted it myself and I'm not exactly handy! We had the round 6" plug-in one which basically just slots in the top. Our flue has clips that lock around each section but the windkat didn't have the same fitting to lock it in, so I applied the heatproof silicone and slotted it in and then locked the clip around tightly to give it comes extra grip/security, it's a good fit. It's made a remarkable difference, it now suffers no downdraft at all on windy days! Last week I woke up to hear the roaring of the wind in the big tress and rush downstairs to try it out, it was pretty windy but I couldn't feel any wind coming down the flue, I light the fire and it took a little while to get going because I had rushed it in my enthusiasm! This made for a great test because it smoked slowly into life and this is the time the flue would have had most issues before, it was cold and not running fast. 10 out of 10 for solving a savage downdraft that cause our fire doors to pop-open in the wind and fire to shoot out the air vents in a gust! it's completely solved the problem. With thanks,

Rebecca

I just wanted to let you know how delighted we are with the cowl that we purchased from you. Having spent the last 3 winters being smoked out and permanently smelling of smoke (embarrassing for the children at school) we ordered your Windkat cowl. We had been experiencing problems when the wind changed direction and at times the draught coming down the chimney was so strong that we couldn't even light the fire, it was blowing out the flame. From the first time we lit the fire we noticed the difference. The fire drew immediately with a whoosh and we didn't experience any of the difficulties we had previously had to struggle with to get the fire started. Once going, it was apparent that the fire was burning alot better, the glass window in the door was clear, previously it had been black, and the flames were moving in a different way. Even when the wind wasn't blowing in the problematic direction, the fire has been burning better and more efficiently and has been easy to light. The true test came when we experienced very strong winds. Being high up on the side of the hill we are very exposed to the wind which during this period were very squally (this again usually caused problems). The fire was again easy to light and with baited breath we waited for the house to fill with smoke. Luckily, it didn't happen. I am now a very happy lady. My house no longer stinks, my windows aren't permanently black and my children don't smell of bonfire!

Fergal

I've installed the Windkat and have it up an running on what is a very windy and blustery day (Beaufort 2+) and I have to say we are amazed at how effective it is. I added 1m of Scheidel flue prior to installing the Windkat and even though I had the Scheidel anti-down draught terminal, there was little or no improvement. The Windkat is truly amazing and there's nothing out there in the market that will touch it. I'd like to leave some feedback on your website if that's ok as other prospective buyers need to stop looking elsewhere and invest in a Windkat. Thanks for all your help and time.

Clive

the cowl arrived on the 21st and I put it up yesterday. So far so good, fingers crossed for surviving a northerly wind. Many thanks again for your help and Happy Christmas

Richard

What we are finding with the Windkat is that – whatever the wind speed or direction – it is as though there is a constant-speed fan up the chimney. Nothing seems to faze it including burning coal dust from the bottom of the bunker. Thus so far, so good. Best Regards

Adrian

Just a quick note to let you know that the Windkat does indeed do what it says on the tin, i.e. cures, or certainly alleviates, problems with downdrafts. It was not all plain sailing in our case, as we still had problems with smoke after the cowl was first installed, which made me wonder whether we had been wise to part with ?225! However, it transpired that the damper on the back of the stove (an antique French one) had jammed shut, which was causing the problem. I eventually managed to dismantle the stove and, on the advice of a guy who imports similar stoves, I removed the damper. When I next lit the stove we had no smoke whatsoever, which was amazing as the chimney was stone cold. I’ve lit it every day since and we’ve been smoke-free, so well done the windkat! Many thanks